Yeah!

Really, there's nothing more to say...

Reader, Rule Breaker, and Picture Taker

Miriam has been up to a lot lately. She has taken quite and interest in following the news although she is still having a hard time figuring out which end is up. (Of course, a lot of us have a hard time with that here in DC.)

She's also become quite a rule breaker. The family recently visited Brookside Gardens, a beautiful local park with flowers all over the place. Since Miri can't read yet, she didn't pay too much attention to the signs. (If you can't read it, the sign says "Please do not walk or climb on the walls).

Finally, Miri loves the camera (taking pictures, not getting them taken of her). If she got her finger out of the frame it would be a great shot of her foot!

New month

May is behind us, thank goodness. From Lightning (lost) to Daddy's car (drowned in a flash flood) to the Caps (defeated in the playoffs) to the Nats (0 for the month, it seemed), to blog posts (2 for the month), May was hard on the Asch family. Miriam, at least, seems to have emerged into summer unscathed. Baseball's been a big part of her life of late. She went down to Nationals Stadium twice, first to see the Nats lose (again) to the Phillies, then to watch Daddy's alma mater, Wilson High, win its 17th straight baseball title. She was particularly happy to see that the backup second baseman was a girl!

In NY with the Aunts

Miriam and family took a quick Memorial Day trip up the Eastern seaboard to visit her two aunts in New York. First came Aunt Laura in the Big Apple, with the added bonus of her cousins Susan and Peggy who happened to be visiting from Tennessee. The crew went to the Central Park Zoo to see seals and penguins and polar bears (oh my!). Miri loved climbing in the turtle eggs. Then it was on to Rye, where Aunt Michelle and Uncle Dave finally got to meet the little redhead. Michelle toured us around town, pointing out all the places Miri's Grandpa Bob used to get in trouble. Her favorite place was the beach!

Wherefore art thou, Lightning?

It's been a sad week at the Asch household. Our beloved cat, Lightning, disappeared during one of the many rainy days here this week, and we miss her terribly. She's a pretty savvy little thing who grew up in the Delta countryside, so we can't imagine that she got "lost" but we don't really want to think what else might have happened to her. Miriam misses her crib-mate -- for the first time in more than a year, Daddy had to go into her room to console her in the middle of the night. With messages on the neighborhood listserv and signs all over the place, we can only hope that someone will recognize her and bring her back...

Matzah Take Two

In addition to eating matzah, Miriam is now able to say matzah as well. Okay, it sounds like mama, but she means matzah. Maybe there's some symbolism there, but we'll leave it to our readers to sort out.

Matzah, matzah, matzah

Passover is here and that means just one thing---"special crackers." That is what we call matzah in the Asch family household (although Daddy says Miri will be saying matzah by the end of the holiday). Miri is in love with crackers, so we were a little bit worried about the transition to life with only matzah. So far, she has done great. Her favorites? Licking the peanut butter and cream cheese off of the matzah. She also enjoyed a breakfast of matzah brie this morning (matzah cooked with eggs). Also a big hit was Mrs. Feinberg's kugel. Who wouldn' t like sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, and matzah meal with lots of butter and sugar?

Mrs. Feinberg's was also a hit at our seder where we hosted family and friends. A special shout out to Gabe and Dennis, whose female halves abandoned them to foreign countries. We were so happy to have them at our place and love having family in DC. As always, it was wonderful to see Grandma Margery too!

One last note....some of our fans (okay, our family who care enough to comment) noted Miri's beautiful (and thematic) cherry dress. While we take credit for dressing her in it to view the cherry blossoms, we have to thank "Big Cousins" Gabe and Tamara for the thoughtful birthday gift. It was, indeed, a great pick.